"It's a nice deal for the building," Paradigm principal JohnCaldwell tells GlobeSt.com. "They are a great tenant who has beenthere for a long time, and we are ecstatic that they are staying."Caldwell represented Paradigm in-house negotiating the five-yearagreement.

Although it was in the red for absorption by 4,000 sf, themid-Cambridge submarket of 3.3 million sf actually outperformed theEast Cambridge and Alewife districts, according to the firstquarter officeSTATus report issued yesterday by Richards BarryJoyce & Partners. The core East Cambridge submarket of 7.9million sf posted negative absorption of 58,000 sf and Alewife hada deficit of 11,000 sf, RBJ estimates. Those outcomes led tonegative 73,000 sf overall, marking the first time since 2005 thatCambridge has registered negative absorption for a quarter.

Rental rates also eased off after a run-up to near record levelsin 2007. For the first time in 10 quarters, class A rents dipped,falling slightly by four cents to $52.97, according to RBJ.Cambridge vacancy rose 0.5% to 7.1%, although mid-Cambridge remainstight at 2.6% vacant. Colliers Meredith & Grew puts the ratethere at 3.3%, well below the 12.7% average in that firm's reviewof 19.7 million sf. CM&G estimates Q1 negative absorption iseven greater than that in the RBJ survey, placing the figure atminus 212,000 sf.